Sonic and the Sacred Keys
by Olra
Summary: When Sonic is whisked to a new world, only hey can recover the seven virtues and save the greek myths with new friends and familiar faces. But this all seems familiar... ((A fanfiction on my take of a third Storybook Series in the franchise))
1. Chapter 1: The Entrance

It was the sunset in Chun-nan and a Pink hedgehog sat at one of the tables. She was wearing a red-and-white color scheme for her dress and shoes, and her red headband complimented her pink fur. She tapped her gloved fingers down on the mahogany wood tables, and then she heard her name in the distance- "Amy!"

Amy's green eyes moved her upper body to meet another set of green eyes. The owner was a blue hedgehog, wearing virtually no clothes at all except for red boots with a white belt laid on them, and basic, white gloves that were holding a bucket.

"Hey, Sonic!" Her light voice called out to the male.

Sonic sat down. "Hey, I'm sorry for _ditching _you during our date." One of the words were said sarcastically. "I should have known better, and-"

"Well, don't be!" She interrupted, the voice optimistic and cheerful. "I'm just glad we're dating right now!"

"_Yeah,_ but only for a day, like last time."

"Oh, don't be Mr. spoilsport, Sonic!"

"Ah... alright..."

Just then, he picked up something... _Y falazas, i ees serak._ Sonic looked around.

"_Where did that come from?_" The blue hedgehog asked himself. "Amy, did you hear something?"

"No, Sonic." Amy answered him. "I did not. And even if I did, it didn't come from me!" Her voice sounded stronger.

_Y falazas, i ees serak..._

"There it is again..." Sonic said once again, his emerald eyes darting around.

"Sonic? Are you hallucinating?" The pink hedgehog asked.

_I pray to the gods; hero of the zephyr, please come to us!_

Sonic stepped back, and six glowing rings appeared below him, moving about.

"Amy? What's happening?!" He asked, surprised by this as he walked to the shadows. The rings glew even moreso, and they couldn't keep away from him. Amy was shocked and didn't make a sound as her eyes widened. A seventh ring appeared right beneath the hedgehog, and light spiked, shielding him from view.

The lights disappeared along with Sonic.

"Sonic?! Where did you go?" Amy asked, her voice raised.

* * *

Light disappeared from Sonic's view, replacing the red arcs with a stone room. The place looked a bit rustic, and it was quite magical.

"Where... am I?" Sonic asked, looking about in confusion. "This isn't Chun-nan...!"

A voice suddenly rang out. "That's because this isn't this 'Chun-nan' you aren't speaking of..." The voice sounded light and airy, sort of like an old friend. Sonic looked towards the voice.

The voice belonged to a woman who looked around twenty years of age. Her face was rosy, but mature, and her dress was quite basic, but with a robe covering the back and part of the front. There were markings on the bottom of each, and she had hidden her hair with a robe, but it was purplish-pink.

She reminded Sonic of his friend Shahra.

"I can tell I summoned the legendary hedgehog... you have the markings..."

Yep, her nickname for her was what Shahra called him when they first met, as well. "Markings-?"

The mention of markings struck him off (as he had none), so he looked. Seven glowing rings were on him - embedded into him even; two on each arm, two on the back of his hands, and one on his chest. "Hey, what did you do to me?" Sonic asked.

"I'm sorry... I'm just a beginning of divine magic..."

"Well, don't be!" Sonic put a gloved finger on his chest, and his suspicious look turned into a cheerful grin. "By the way, don't call me 'Legendary.' My name's Sonic; Sonic the Hedgehog!" he recalled his hand and pointed to her with all five fingers, the palm pointing to the ceiling. "And you are, miss?"

"My name's Orphea..."

"Orphea, huh? Nice name!" Sonic scanned around again. "So, what do I do?"

"Well... you should probably hunt for the first Virtue."

"First virtue? What is that, and why do I need to find it?"

Orphea's expression turned bleak, and there was a long pause.

"Hey, what's the matter, Orphea?"

She hesitated to talk, but she did; "Why, I should tell you the reason first... and it's because Chronos is trying to wipe the world clean..."

Sonic's eyes widened.


	2. Chapter 2: Windy Forest and Hercules

"Chronos? Who's Chronos?" Sonic asked, surprised that someone would wipe a world clean- which was surprising about himself, although he had saved a world with the same fate.

"Chronos... is the personification of time. However-"

"Persona of time, eh!? I have fought one once!"

"Sonic, this isn't the time to interrupt."

"Ehe. Sorry!"

"Like I was saying, Chronos is the personification of time. However, he went power-hungry, and is wiping this world clean... if he isn't stopped, this world will be gone, and it will be the equivalent of suicide... thousands of lives will be lost if we don't stop it..." Orphea was close to crying.

Sonic held her hand, looking up to her blue eyes with his own green ones, which were gleaming with hope. "Hey, don't sweat it! I can beat time, just by myself!

Now, what is the first virtue I need to round up, Orphea?"

The glimmer of hope made the maiden smile. "The first is Diligence. You can find that when you save Heracles."

"Ah, Heracles?" Sonic asked. "What's so special about him?"

"Well, Heracles is one of my friends. But you must stop him from wearing Deianira's robe."

Sonic's expression turned to intrigue. "And why do I have to take a robe from him?"

Orphea's face softened. "Well, it is lined with hydra's poison. One touch can dissolve your skin to your bones..."

Sonic's teeth closed as he made a small hiss with the inside of his mouth. "Owch, that's gotta hurt!"

"It will do more than hurt, Sonic..." a slight awkward silence befell the room

"Alright, I'll be there! Just tell me where he is and I will save Herc!"

"_Herc?_" She asked.

"Yeah, gotta shorten the name, don't I?" Another bout of awkward silence.

"Well... he's in the forest, near the river. He's not a good listener, and he'd probably most likely challenge you if you do the wrong thing."

"Alrighty, guess I'm heading out!" Sonic said with a chuckle as he rushed out.

"Be careful, Sonic..."

* * *

A 'level' has to have a name, right? The forest feels quite nice, wind flowing through his quills with all the speed he could ever muster. Sonic was weaving through the trees, not missing a beat, not running into anything.

This forest seemed pretty deserted anyways! Why not Windy Forest? The forest was a gateway to the zephyr, anyways.

"This is a cool place! Wahoo~!"

And then he stopped; Something ain't right! Monsters! All of them had a serpentine body, and the body of men. Eh, a Homing attack would end them!

Sonic continued his run, going through special wisps; they were glowing a golden color; they felt like the same energy as rings- He stopped again due to a spirit. "Oh, Sonic! I forgot to say something! I just remembered!" the spirit's familiar voice rang out.

"Orphea?"

"Yeah! I'll tag with you in this form! I forgot to mention, it's not _Diligence..._ It's _Humility_! Heracles has humility as the first virtue you need to recover!"

Sonic was a bit shocked, but he shrugged it off with a chuckle as he continued the run, with Orphea's spirit manifestation following him to his pace. "Ah, a forgetful one, aren't you?"

"_Sonic... yes..._" She admitted.

"Anyways, what is the other five besides Humility and Diligence?" the hedgehog asked, still weaving around the trees and taking out monsters.

"The seven virtues! Chastity; the wisdom, Temperance; the justice, Charity; the will, Diligence; the persisting, Patience; the peace, Kindness; the compassion, and Humility; the brave."

"Ah, I see..."

The waves of monsters were gone as Sonic went through the 'stage', and finally, he eyed a dais. "That's the end!"

Sonic ran past the dais; that was the end of the 'level'!

* * *

"Ah, it's the robe! I am honored to have this as a prize!" A familiar gruff voice rang out. Sonic's green eyes met a blotch of red and white by the river. It was Knuckles!- well, a different version of him. He looked like Knux; however, he was wearing a lion's pelt and some sandals that resembled Knuckles' shoes.

"Hey! Knuckles!" Sonic cried out to the Echidna, who ignored him. "Knux!"

"Sonic, wait! That's not "Knuckles". That's Heracles-" The spirit answered the blue hedgehog, who burst at the Echidna, and snatched the robe out from his hand.

"Hey, who goes there?!" Heracles growled.

"I did!" Sonic answered.

"Stranger, is there any reason that you have taken that robe from me, huh?!"

"Well, I-"

Heracles cut the hedgehog's dialogue with "Prepare for the worst if you are to steal Deianira's robe from Heracles!" He roared.

"Ah, you're Heracles?! Because you sound like a certain Knucklehead I know!"

Herc roared again as he lunged at his enemy. "You dare insult the mighty Heracles?! Well then, prepare for your doom!"

Sonic, you screwed up horribly... "Ugh, the things I put up with..." Sonic sighed, shrugging.


	3. Chapter 3: Virtue and Vice

Sonic knew how to beat Knuckles. This was no different; As soon as Heracles through his fist at him, Sonic dodged, and as he threw it again, Sonic's reflexes worked its magic again.

"Say, Heracles! I should really-" He dodged another fist throw and did a homing attack on him. "Call you something different!" He dodged an uppercut.

"So?!" Heracles growled as he threw another of his stone-hard fists; Sonic was hard to hit, maybe even impossible.

"Maybe I should call you Hercules-" Another dodge. "How does Herc sound?" dodge.

"RAWRGH! Shut UP!" A lucky strike and Sonic was sent flying into the sky; Sonic recovered and landed. A hit from a Knuckles hurts, no matter where.

"Nice hit!" Dodge. Dodge. "You aren't a mighty hero for nothing!" A barrage of homing attacks. "Too bad I'm mightier!"

* * *

"Hercules, you tried!" Sonic cried out. "But a mighty hero should be mightier!"

"But you're as fast as the wind itself, and I can't hit the wind easily."

"Well, that explains it!" The hedgehog chuckled. "You're just like one of my friends."

Awkward silence, and then Sonic noticed something; a purple glow emanating from the robe. Sonic turned his upper body to take a better look. "Huh?"

Orphea noticed it, too. "The virtue of Humility!"

Herc looked at Sonic with confusion as he saw the hedgehog walk to the robe. "What is it?"

"So, this is the virtue of Humility, Orphea?" Sonic asked as he looked towards the manifestation. Herc looked towards where Sonic was looking, but there was no one there. "Sonic, are you crazy or something?"

The orb floated up. "Sonic, touch the virtue and focus."

"Oh?" Sonic answered as he touched the orb and started focusing. "Like this?"

"Sonic, what are you doing-"

A scream from the hedgehog suddenly rose. Sonic was actually screaming a bit, because it hurt.

"Orphea?! What's... happening?!"

A faint wave of purple washed through the myth, securing it. Sonic flapped his right hand. It felt like burning, but Sonic shrugged it off.

"Sonic, what did you do?" Hercules asked.

Suddenly, the hedgehog got a smug look on his face. "Eh, I just saved your sorry butt from dissolving from your bones, along with the rest of your skin!"

"What?"

Sonic's eyes opened halfway. It was a mix of green and purple in glow, making his eyes seem brown with a tint of green. "Ya heard me; saved your sorry butt, now did I?"

Herc got angrier. "What was that?! Say it again!"

"You couldn't even beat me in a match because you're so weak!" Sonic was acting way out of character right now, and the greek counterpart of Knuckles got angry.

"You better take that back!" Herc yelled.

"Or what-"

That was it. A sock to the face, and Sonic was down, but recovered. That snapped him out.

"Ugh... ow! What happened?"

Orphea came to him. "You were engulfed by Superbia."

"Su-wha-tia?"

"Basically, Pride."

"Oh... so why did Herc hit me?" Sonic asked. "I didn't-"

"You called me weak, you idiot!" Hercules growled, gritting his teeth.

"Oh, sorry!" Sonic apologized.

"Who are you talking to, anyways?!"

"I'll tell you, but first, you need to calm it, bud!"

Hercules breathed in- hard- but the breathing slowed down to normal. He was finally calm.

"Good, now follow me." Sonic pleaded.

"Why?" Hercules asked.

"Because I'm bringing you somewhere, now come." the hedgehog answered.

* * *

"What?!" The Echidna outcried. 'You mean Chronos has gone mad and is destroying the world, Orphea?!"

"Yes. And we have to recover all of the virtues." Orphea replied.

"We collected the first, right Orphea?" Sonic asked. "If we _do _have the first one, then this will be a snap! And we can beat time itself!"

"Yes. Exactly, Sonic." Orphea answered as she turned her attention over to Hercules. "Heracles, return to your own place, Heracles. We don't have much need for you here, anymore."

Heracles hesitated. "But I wanna chat with you more, Orphea. We haven't seen each other in ten-"

"I know that, but please go back. You might get some spoilers."

Hercules created a mix of a growl and a sigh in his hesitation, and finally started his leave.

"Alright..." the Echidna growled as he exited the building.

A silence befell the room, before Sonic broke it. "Alright, Orphea! Where do I head off now; and what was that feeling of... demonic power that fell over me?"

Orphea sighed. "That was one of the demons, Sonic. ... You must get to Theseus and help fight the Minotaur."

Sonic ignored the **_demon_**mention. "Minotaur? Cool!"

"But first you must get on the ship to Crete."

Sonic's eyes widened at the mention of 'ship'. "You mean... with water?"

"Yes, why?"

"Because... I get a bit woozy on ships."

"I'm sorry to hear that... but it's needed to help get the virtue of Charity."

Sonic had used the same sigh as Hercules before he left. "Fine..." And he left for the seas.


End file.
